With the Green Bay Packers, the NFL's true link to
the early years, poised to defend their Super Bowl championship, the Wisconsin cheeseheads
are trying to put the finishing touches on a third dynasty in their lengthy history.

The second was the glory years of the 1960s, with five
championships ending with Super Bowls I and II under Vince Lombardi.

The first dynasty ended along the Ohio River on a raw,
windy December day in 1932.

The city of Portsmouth, then a steel mill town of 43,000,
has only a little more than half of that population today. But the memories of pro
football there have old-timers boasting about the Portsmouth Spartans winning NFL games in
New York, Chicago, Boston and St. Louis and being almost unbeatable at home.

No one is more of a Portsmouth booster and historian than
Leo Blackburn, the younger brother of Tom Blackburn, the University of Dayton basketball
legend. Among other things, Leo will take you by the arm to the flood wall where huge
historical murals adorn the concrete barriers depicting the area's history.

One of them salutes "the game" - a 19-0
Portsmouth triumph on Dec. 4 which prevented the Packers from racking up a fourth straight
championship.

As it is, no other franchise has ever won three straight to
this day.

Green Bay is in the books for NFL champions in 1929-30-31.
A victory over the Spartans that memorable day would have made it four.

Portsmouth coach George (Potsy) Clark had vowed that it
would never happen, creating a very emotional atmosphere.

Green Bay allegedly backed out of a date in Portsmouth the
year before and had beaten the Spartans in Green Bay back in October, 15-10.

The irate Clark, an Illinois grad who played under Bob
Zuppke, promised he would beat the Pack in Portsmouth playing only 11 men.

An account of how that came to pass is covered in a book
about pro football in southern Ohio by retired Wright State history professor Carl M.
Becker. The book is scheduled to be published later this year by the Ohio University
press.

The game attracted a record press coverage and the tiny
press box at the oddly named Universal Stadium was jammed, forcing a number of scribes to
sit in the stands trying to take notes with frozen fingers.

The players were not locals but salaried former collegiate
standouts from across the country.

The 11-man lineup included ends Bill McKalip (Oregon State)
and Harry Ebding (St. Marys). The tackles were George Christensen (Oregon), a future Hall
of Famer and Ray Davis (Stanford). The guards were Grover (Ox) Emerson (Texas) and Maury
Bodenger (Tulane) with Clare Randolph (Indiana) at center.

Lumpkin was a hard-nosed blocker who played without a
helmet, exposing a bald head. He was a fan favorite and the Ramblin' Wreck song of his
alma mater was the Spartans' theme song.

The Green Bay team was solid under coach Curly Lambeau, who
organized the team in 1919 and was a player-coach for the first eight years. He is a Hall
of Famer as was big tackle Cal Hubbard and running back Johnny Blood.

Clark scored 13 of the 19 points, rushing for the first
touchdown early in the game and then scoring again on a pass from Presnell. He drop-kicked
the one good extra point in the tricky winds.

He also had a 55-yard return on an interception with Green
Bay threatening to score from the Portsmouth 12-yard line.

An emotional throng estimated at more than 10,000 jammed
into the stadium which had only 6,600 seats and helped intimidate the visitors.

An unnamed Packer official was quoted in the Portsmouth
Times that it was the most unruly, threatening crowd he had ever seen.

The win set up a championship showdown between Portsmouth
and the Chicago Bears, which resulted in the game being played indoors in the Chicago
Stadium two weeks later. The Bears won that one, but that's another story.